Analysis of 3 Double Page Spreads

Here is a double page spread from the mainstream magazine NME. I have annotated the features that are always used on all double page spreads.

MAIN IMAGE: This is usually based on the first page of the spread, and has the interview written on the next page across. The main image is always the person/band who are being featured in the interview.

NAME OF THE BAND: The name of the band has been placed in big white writing on the side of the main image, but this may sometimes be put at the top of the page with the actual writing on the 2nd page of the interview, something which I will be doing on my magazine layout.

CAPTION: A white caption is usually put at the top or bottom of the main images picture on the first page of the spread. This then has small black writing, which matches the font used in the full interview, stating the date, photographer, and maybe a little description to go with the picture. Also, a limerick or joke may be added in this caption to create humour.

INSTITUTION AND PAGE NUMBER: The name of the magazine and the page number are always featured at the bottom of the 2nd page. This helps the reader to find certain articles or interviews they saw on the contents page.

PULL QUOTE: A pull quote is added from the interview, and it is written from a section that has been pulled out and may interest the reader to actually read the article if the subject is intriguing. This quote is big and bold, to catch the readers attention, and is placed between some of the text to break the interview up into pieces, instead of making the article look long and boring.

FIRST LETTER BOLD & BIG: The first letter that starts the paragraph off is always bigger and bolder than the rest. This is a feature of many magazines, not just the genre of a music one. This emphasises the paragraph & shows were it starts.

OVERVIEW PARAGRAPH: A overview paragraph is always written in the double page spread in a music magazine, and this sums up the interview and gets the ball rolling in the sense of giving the reader a taste of what the interviews going to be about, and just a little about the artist featured.

COLOMNED PARAGRAPH LAYOUT: The layout of the double page spreads in music magazines are always straight colomned paragraphs, with the font size of no more than 9-12 to get more text on the page. On this magazine, the paragraphs are quite long, as it's a fully written interview, but in some magazines questions are asked, and the answers are in seperated paragraphs.

Here is a double page spread from the magazine 'Bliss' and this features the Jonas Brothers. This double page spread has the same layout as the one above, with the picture on the first page, and the writing and the pull quote on the 2nd, but this double page spread has more pictures on the 2nd page, which are alligned squarely to make the article look rather random. There's also the captions on each of the picture, but instead of being white, the magazine has decided to use the colours pink, green and white. Pink has the connotations of girls, which indicates that this magazine's target audience is for girls rather than boys. The font used is bold and very block like, and the main masthead 'Brother Love' is written bigger than all the rest to stand out and get the reader starting from that point. The pull quote is big and pink, which again stands out against the white background.


The artist mentioned is Pink, so the target audience therefore are people who want to know more about her and who are interested in what she has to say about her music. The picture on the 2nd page shows her smiling, which gives out connotations of happiness and laughter, indicating this won't be a miserable interview. Informal language is used, and the layout makes it seem like a conversation. “It’s Q’s round. What are you having?” The interview is very conversational. The colours are very simple. It uses blue and white as its main colours. The picture is a bit darker adding in black, and green and white give the impression that this is just a normal conversation, maybe signifying how Pink is just a normal person like the rest of us. The black in the picture is makes Pink stand out more against it. The double page spread doesn't break the conventions. It has the text on the left and the picture on the right, like the double page spreads above. There's also a caption, small overview paragraph, and colomned paragraphs to show it's an interview. The name of the artist is in grey, which indicates that it doesnt need to be big and bold, as the artists picture will alone attract the reader. The reader will look directly at the right hand side first which is the image. The left hand side doesn’t try and drag the reader to read straight away, so the magazine must want the reader to mainly be focused on the image, and who the artist is featured.